Pirates Prep For Trip To Cincinnati

Game 26: East Carolina (10-15, 3-9 AAC) at Cincinnati (10-14, 3-9 AAC)
The Game	February 19 \\\ 2 p.m. \\\ Live Stats \\\ Watch Live
Venue	Fifth Third Arena (Cincinnati, Ohio)
2021-22 Statistics	East Carolina \| Cincinnati
Information	ECU Notes
Social Media	Twitter \\\ Instagram \\\ TikTok \\\ #OnePirateNation

GREENVILLE, N.C. – With just four games remaining in the regular season, the East Carolina women's basketball team will travel to Cincinnati on Saturday.

East Carolina (10-15, 3-9 AAC) got another standout performance from Taniyah Thompson, the reigning AAC Player of the Week, who scored 28 points on an efficient 10-of-19 shooting, including 4-of-5 from three-point range. But the Pirates fell to Houston 67-55, snapping a two-game winning streak for ECU. Da'Ja Green was the other Pirate in double-figures, finishing with 12 points and she is now second on the team with eight double figure scoring games. East Carolina lost for the first time this season with Synia Johnson in the starting lineup, falling to 3-1 with the sophomore in the first five, but Johnson continued to be a pest on defense since returning from a three-game absence due to injury. Since returning against Temple, Johnson has 16 steals in four games, including a career-high seven against Houston.

Thompson is currently second in the AAC, averaging 18.2 points per game. She has been on a tear recently, scoring over 25 points in each of her past four games. It is the second time this season that Thompson has scored at least 20 points in four straight games and she is currently on a streak of 16 straight games with at least 10 points, the longest since Jada Payne went 17 straight in 2015-16. She became the first player in ECU history to win multiple AAC Player of the Week awards in the same season and her three career awards are the most by a Pirate. Tylar Bennett blocked a pair of shots against Houston to give her an even 50 on the season, leaving her 25th in the country. Bennett is now tied with Jen Cox for seventh all-time in single season blocks at ECU and with four more, she will move into sole possession of fifth. The Pirates are currently leading the AAC and check in at No. 18 in the country in blocked shots, with 122. They are also leading the AAC in steals (273, 15th in the NCAA), turnovers forced (22.32 per game, ninth) and turnover margin (+4.92, 29th).

Cincinnati (10-14, 3-9 AAC) won three of four after starting the AAC slate 0-4, but the Bearcats are back to struggling, dropping four straight games. Cincinnati has been better at home, going 8-6 in Fifth Third Arena, including giving current AAC leader UCF its only conference loss of the season. Jillian Hayes leads the Bearcats in scoring and rebounding, averaging 12.1 points and 7.0 boards each night. Akira Levy is the other Bearcat scoring in double figures, averaging 11.5 points while also ranking second in the AAC in assists, with 5.3 dimes per game. Caitlyn Wilson is the top three-point shooter in the AAC, having hit 51 triples per game and she is second in percentage, shooting 33.6% from beyond the arc. Only the Pirates have blocked more shots than Cincinnati, with the Bearcats swatting 120 shots and five different players rejecting at least 11 shots.

It will be the second meeting between East Carolina and Cincinnati this season, with ECU taking a 71-48 home victory. Raven Johnson led the way for the Pirates, scoring 22 points and adding three of ECU's 17 steals. The Pirates forced 31 Bearcat turnovers and scored 30 points off those miscues. The win made it 11-9 in favor of ECU in the all-time series and East Carolina is looking to win in Fifth Third Arena for the second straight year, having taken a 74-67 victory there on Dec. 20, 2020. The Pirates are 4-5 all-time in Cincinnati. They are also 1-2 this season in rematches, having beaten Wichita State while falling to SMU and Temple. However, this will be the first time that East Carolina won the opening matchup of the season.

Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m., on Saturday afternoon at Cincinnati's Fifth Third Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and fans can follow the live stats here.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Tylar Bennett

Da'Ja Green

Raven Johnson

Synia Johnson

Taniyah Thompson

Footer